Chapter 136

“Yudhishthira said, ‘Thou hast told me in full of those from whom foodmay be accepted and of those from whom it should not be taken. But I havegrave doubts on one point. Do thou, O sire, enlighten me, do thou tell mewhat expiation a Brahmana should make (for the sin he incurs) uponaccepting the different kinds of food, those especially offered in honourof the gods and the oblations made to the manes.’

“Bhishma said, ‘I shall tell thee, O prince, how high-souled Brahmanasmay be absolved from all sin incurred by accepting food from others. Inaccepting clarified butter, the expiation is made by pouring oblations onthe fire, reciting the Savitri hymn. In accepting sesamum, OYudhishthira, the same expiation has to be made. In accepting meat, orhoney, or salt, a Brahmana becomes purified by standing till the risingof the sun. If a Brahmana accepts gold from any one, he becomes cleansedof all sins by silently reciting the great Vedic prayer (Gayatri) and byholding a piece of iron in his hand in the presence of the public. Inaccepting money or clothes or women or gold, the purification is the sameas before. In accepting food, or rice boiled in milk and sugar, orsugarcane juice, or sugar-cane, or oil, or any sacred thing, one becomespurified by bathing thrice in the course of the day, viz., at morn, noonand eve. If one accepts, paddy, flowers, fruits, water, half-ripe barley,milk, or curdled milk, or anything made of meal or flour, the expiationis made by reciting the Gayatri prayer a hundred times. In acceptingshoes or clothes at obsequial ceremonies, the sin is destroyed byreciting devoutly the same hymn a hundred times. The acceptance of thegift of land at the time of an eclipse or during the period of impurity,is expiated by observing a fast during three successive nights. TheBrahmana who partakes of oblations offered to deceased ancestors, incourse of the dark fortnight, is purified by fasting for a whole day andnight. Without performing his ablutions a Brahmana should not say hisevening prayers, nor betake himself to religious meditation, nor take hisfood a second time. By so doing he is purified. For this reason, theSraddha of deceased ancestors has been ordained to be performed in theafternoon and then the Brahmana who has been invited beforehand should befeasted, The Brahmana who partakes of food at the house of a dead personon the third day after the death, is purified by bathing three timesdaily for twelve days. After the expiration of twelve days, and goingthrough the purification ceremonies duly, the sin is destroyed by givingclarified butter to Brahmanas. If a man takes any food in the house of adead person, within ten days after the death, he should go through allthe expiations before mentioned, and should recite the Savitri hymn anddo the sin-destroying Ishti and Kushmanda penances. The Brahmana whotakes his food in the house of a dead person for three nights, becomespurified by performing his ablutions thrice daily for seven days, andthus attains all the objects of his desire, and is never troubled bymisfortunes. The Brahmana who takes his food in the company of Sudras ispurged from all impurity by duly observing the ceremonies ofpurification. The Brahmana who takes his food in the company of Vaisyasis absolved from sin by living on alms for three successive nights. If aBrahmana takes his food with Kshatriyas, he should make expiation bybathing with his clothes on. By eating with a Sudra from off the sameplate the Sudra loses his family respectability; the Vaisya by eatingfrom off the same plate with a Vaisya, loses his cattle and friends. TheKshatriya loses his prosperity, and the Brahmana his splendour andenergy. In such cases, expiations should be made, and propitiatory ritesshould be observed, and oblations offered to the gods. The Savitri hymnshould be recited and the Revati rites and Kushmanda penances should beobserved with the view of destroying the sin. If any of the above fourclasses partake of food partly eaten by a person of any other class, theexpiation is undoubtedly made by smearing the body with auspicioussubstances like Rochana, Durva grass, and turmeric.'”